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Summary of the impact

James Davidson's research has overturned a decades-old consensus about
the nature of sexual identity and same sex relations in Ancient Greece.
The research has been communicated to wider publics through print and
online media, popular publications and public events. The public interest
in and recognition of the research testify to the impact of the research
on the public's consciousness. It has particular resonance for GLBT
communities who have embraced the arguments put forward as justifications
for same sex marriage equality.

Underpinning research

The underpinning research on sexuality and sexual relations in Ancient
Greece was conducted from 1997-2007 by James Davidson, Reader and later
Professor (2009) in Classics at Warwick. The research was published as
journal articles, book chapters, and two books intended for academic and
general audiences. Davidson's research over this 10-year period refuted
the dominant scholarly interpretation of sexual relations in Ancient
Greece. Davidson demonstrated that contemporary scholarship on sexuality
and sexual relations in classical Greece is the construct of modern
scholars influenced by the work of Michel Foucault and Kenneth Dover who
wrote predominantly in the 1970s and 1980s. These scholars depicted sexual
relations as relationships based on power in which the powerful
(penetrator) subjugated the vulnerable or weak (penetrated), whereby sex
was a zero-sum game with winners and losers. Davidson proposed an
alternative model of sexual morality and sexual practice in Greece which
took the discourse of same-sex eros (passionate love) more
seriously by reintegrating this supposedly marginal data into the most
central areas of Greek culture. Modern scholarship has over-sexualised
`Greek Love', thereby diminishing other elements of Greek homoeroticism,
such as the idealisation of the male body and love poetry. Finally,
Davidson argued that behind the amatory discourse there was sometimes
clear evidence for publicly formalized bilateral homosexual relationships.
These were characterized/ caricatured as `marriages' by contemporaries and
Davidson's research has ultimately supported the research of both John
Boswell and Alan Bray that formalized same-sex troth-plighting is a very
long-standing feature of a number of European cultures.

The underpinning research was first published in Courtesans and
Fishcakes (1997), which examines what classical Athenians thought
and said about the pleasures of the flesh, namely eating, drinking, and
sex. Through this exploration of desire, Davidson sought to challenge the
prevailing notion of classical Athens as a phallocentric society which is
characterised by masculine mores of thought or behaviour.
Historians following Foucault imposed modern views of desire and sexuality
on Ancient Greek society. This has resulted in a simplistic binary
opposition of penetrator and penetrated, representing the powerful and
dominated. Rather, Davidson argued that sexuality was a slippery commodity
rooted in intricate social negotiations. Instead, it was the failure to
restrain desire which made it shameful. In this way, Davidson's work casts
a different light on Athenians' ideas of sexuality and sexual relations
which is more nuanced than the phallocentric interpretation.

In The Greeks and Greek Love (2007), Davidson built upon Courtesans
and Fishcakes to focus specifically on same sex relationships in
classical Greece, roughly 800-300BC. His research refuted the claims Dover
made in his 1978 book, Greek Homosexuality, in which he argued
that Athenians were obsessed with anal sex, which they saw as an act of
domination and humiliation, usually perpetrated by an older male on a
young boy. Davidson argues that this view of homosexual relations in
Ancient Greece is the projection of modern historians who have been
reluctant to imagine a world in which gay relationships involved
expressions of love and affection. By drawing on a broader range of
sources, such as myths, vase paintings, satirical plays, poems, and
architecture, Davidson argues for same-sex eros as a peculiar
nodal element in the society and culture in ancient Greece, with
wide-ranging and unpredictable ramifications.

Sexuality and sexual relations in Ancient Greece is a central area of
debate in Classics, ancient history, and gay studies. The importance of
Davidson's research on classical studies is evidenced by the overwhelming
reception of his work. Greek Love was described by the Journal of
Hellenic Studies as `a baroque masterpiece' and `jewel encrusted'. Courtesans
and Fishcakes was named as one of the International Books of the
Year in the Times Literary Supplement (1998) and a Breakthrough
Book in Classics (Lingua Franca, 2000). The book was subsequently
translated into German (1999) and Greek (2003). In 2009, the American
Philological Association conference hosted a panel on `Re-thinking
Homosexual Behaviour in Antiquity' which was organised in response to
academic developments in this area, including Davidson's 2001 Past
& Present article.

Reviews in Popular Media:
Davidson's two major works Courtesans and Fishcakes and The
Greeks and Greek Love were widely reviewed in UK and international
media, including The Guardian, The Observer, The Times,
The Australian (AU), The Washington Post (US), The
Spectator, The London Review of Books, The New Yorker
(US), The Independent, The Times Educational Supplement, Corriere
della Sera (IT), The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday
Telegraph and Publishersweekly.com (US). Courtesans and
Fishcakes was a book of the year in the Australian Financial
Review (1997) and The Times (1997). It was noted by Faber
and Faber as the book they wished they'd published in `Publishers' hits
and misses', Financial Times, 1997. It was a writer's Top 10 book
in Geographical Magazine (2007). It was one of the `International
Books of the Year' in TLS (4.12.98) and one of the `Breakthrough
Books in Classics' in Lingua Franca (Nov 2000:15).

Details of the impact

Davidson's research on sexuality and sexual relations in Ancient Greece
presents a different understanding of Ancient Greek society and culture,
feeding into public discussions about the nature of homosexual relations
in Ancient Greece, and about the relationship between Antiquity and modern
society. It has been adopted by members of the GLBT community and
advocates for legalising same sex marriage as illustrating the historical
precedence for same sex relationships. The book and its US edition (Random
House, 2009), were published during the height of debate about same sex
marriage in a number of US states. An article in the popular American
online magazine Slate (4 million readers a day) made explicit the
connection between Davidson's research and the debate about whether
homosexual relationships should be afforded the same status as
heterosexual ones. Greek Love is described as a `landmark study'
and recommended as `required reading for anybody curious about the
antecedents of the current impasse' in American state legislatures. It
`provides an important invitation to open our eyes to the multiplicity of
ways in which people loved one another in Ancient Greece.' Michael Dirda
in the Washington Post (2009) claims that `though Davidson never
says it outright, The Greeks and Greek Love tacitly validates
modern same sex marriage.' References to the book also abound in blogs
posted around the world on the classics and Ancient Greece, books and the
publishing industry, gay rights and popular media. The UK policy think
tank Policy Exchange referenced Greek Love for its exploration of
the historical case for gay marriage in Ancient Greece in its 2012
publication recommending that the government legislate for equal marriage
(`What's in a name? Is there a case for equal marriage?').

The impact of Davidson's research in the United States on the publishing
industry and the reading public is further evidenced by public
recognition. Greek Love received the Mark Lynton History Prize
(2010) from the Nieman Foundation for Journalism and the Columbia School
of Journalism awarded to the `book-length work of history on any subject
that best combines intellectual or scholarly distinction with felicity of
expression.' The book was also awarded the Randy Shilts Award for Gay
non-fiction by Publishing Triangle, a New York based organisation which
promotes books and other written materials by LGBT authors or with LGBT
themes. It was one of three Stonewall Honour Books in Non-Fiction in 2010
which is sponsored by the American Library Association; and was the winner
of the Lambda Award for LGBT non-fiction (2010) which honours books on any
subject written for the general reader. The reach of the impact is
evidenced by the number of copies of Davidson's books sold worldwide,
selling more than 20,000 copies combined (Nielsen Bookscan). His books, Courtesans
and Fishcakes and Greek Love have been translated into
German and Greek, further demonstrating the significance of Davidson's
impact and extending the impact internationally. The books were reviewed
extensively in national newspapers in the UK (Daily Telegraph, The
Guardian, The Independent), Canada (The Globe and Mail),
Australia (The Australian) and the USA (New York Times, Washington
Post and Washington Times) and in British, Australian,
American and French magazines (Spectator, Prospect, The
Monthly, Slate, L'Economie Politique). There has
been a great interest in Davidson's books in online forums and blogs,
including the BBC TV blog (2013) and the newspaper Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung's blogs (2009).

As well as print media and popular online interest, Davidson's research
has also been featured on radio and television programmes. He was
consulted and interviewed for the television programme `The Bible: A
History' about St Paul and sexuality (Channel 4, Jan 2010, avg 1 million
viewers). He contributed to the BBC Radio 4 programme `A History of the
World in 100 Objects' (May 2010, avg 4 million listeners per episode); Greek
Love is also referenced as further reading for the Warren Cup on the
British Museum website. Davidson was consulted for the BBC Radio 3
programme `Out in the World - A Global Gay History' which aired in 2011
and 2012 (approx. listening figures per episode 78,000). A reading from Courtesans
and Fishcakes was featured on `Something Understood', BBC Radio 4,
2008 (estimated figures 441,480).

Greek Love also led to Davidson being invited to write a series of
pamphlets on Greek Mythology for The Guardian in January 2008
(daily paper circulation 378,394), still available on the newspaper's
website (4 million unique visitors per day). Davidson has been a
contributor to the London Review of Books since the early 1990s,
writing over 20 articles on Greek mythology, politics, social life,
literature and art. Since 2008 Davidson has written two book reviews (Atlantis
Story, 2008; Lexicon of Greek Personal Names, 2010) and an
exhibition review (Bronze, Royal Academy, 2012). His podcast `Sex in the
Ancient World', recorded in 2009 and available on Warwick's iTunesU
channel has received 89,747 downloads (figures available to 02/12). His
public appearances include a talk about Greek Love at Gay's the
World Bookshop in London (admission free; 29.01.2009) as part of its 30th
anniversary celebrations. The event was included in The
Guardian Saturday Review: Events (24.01.2009). He
participated in a discussion panel on `The Greeks' for the Hay-on-Wye
literature festival in June 2012 which had a sold out audience of 50.